Daughter told she cannot see her father in prison

[jwoodfin09]

Carl M. Patton is currently serving several life sentences concurrently for murders that occurred in the 1970s. He willingly admits that he has done wrong by committing these acts. His daughter, Tina Mae Patton, is currently on probation for minor offenses. The authorities at Macon State Prison have decided that she can not see her father anymore due to this, even though she has seen him multiple times in the past. There is currently no state law on the books that prevents her from seeing him on the basis of the fact that she is on probation. The warden is standing by his decision to prevent her from seeing her father. The Department of Corrections has basically said that it is a local decision and therefore, there is nothing they can do.

I am asking all my fellow Neowin readers to read Carl's letter and petition the State of Georgia to override the warden and allow Tina Mae Patton the ability to see her father.

 

(Disclaimer: I am an extended family member of Carl Patton, and the son of Tina Mae Patton)

 

Link to Carl's letter: http://www.bit.ly/19xTito

Link to Dept of Corrections website: http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/

Link to State of Georgia site: http://www.georgia.gov

 

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I'm not sure I could willingly sign the petition, even if my signature held merit. Just from my understanding of your initial post the warden seems to have decided that Tina's probation isn't serving its purpose, and therefore a stronger measure is needed to make sure that the system does what it was intended to do - deterring people from commiting future crimes. It might sound heartless to you as you have a connection to the case, but that is my understanding of the situation.

I would be interested in reading the father's letter though, is there any chance someone could write it out for us? The cursive writing makes it very difficult to follow, and it may lead me to a different point of view on the situation. For example, I note that at the very top it mentions racism, which your post does not.

EDIT: Odd, trying to do a Google search to get more information brings up nothing. No news articles, no petitions...

[firey]

Unfortunately I have to side with Nick on this.  I don't know you, or your mother, so I can only go by what I read.  However minor offences or not.. the law was broken and probation was required.  There are reasons the law is in place, and people need to understand that.  This is no different than a child throwing a fit, and losing their TV Privileges.   Now, I am not comparing the two directly, as not seeing a father is worse than losing tv.. but to a child it's just as bad.

I would try again once your Mothers probation has cleared, and is no longer in trouble legally.  I don't think this is just a one off case, and I am sure very very strict precautions are put in place when one law breaking citizen is to meet with another law breaking citizen in a state run facility. 

I am not knocking the chraacter of your mother or grandfather, however they each did something that is not acceptable and are paying the consequences.

[sathenzar]

I have to agree with firey and Nick H. Plus if the daughter is on probation obviously something is going wrong where she is either not getting the structure she needs or is getting badly influenced by something/someone. Going to a prison where your father is at after openly admitting he murdered innocent people isn't the best place to get more structure in your life.

[Cheatyface]

This the Carl Patton you're talking about?

 

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/patton-pleads-guilty-in-1977-murder-case/nJbJH/

 

http://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/serial-killer-carl-millard-patton-jr-sentenced-to-5-consecutive-terms-of-life-in-prison/

 

No sympathy at all.

[streetw0lf]

As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[jwoodfin09]

I think you are all missing the point. The state does not have a right to bar her on the basis of that probation. They can only do it in cases of a parole.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

The law is a very murky area, and I'm not a lawyer so I'm just going on a quick Google search, but I found this. Note that it was written in 2005, and it does state that the law is ever evolving, but it does state that visitation restrictions are not a violation of the Constitution, and that prisons are allowed to judge situations on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, it could be different from one state to the next, but this is why such things should be discussed with a lawyer, not with your average Joe like me on the Internet. ;)

[firey]

I think you are all missing the point. The state does not have a right to bar her on the basis of that probation. They can only do it in cases of a parole.

I don't see why it wouldn't.  I mean the state can take children away from parents (CAS or whatever you call it there).. the state can put people in Jail.  I would think they can control who can and cannot see who under state law. 

It's the same premise as stopping your child from hanging out with another child that is a known trouble maker.

[Cheatyface]

I think you are all missing the point. The state does not have a right to bar her on the basis of that probation. They can only do it in cases of a parole.

 

In most places, the warden *does* have the power to restrict visitation unless it's the prisoner's legal counsel. You also didn't respond to my post, so I'm guessing that is the person in question. I can see the warden's point and agree fully with his stance.

[siah1214]

Sorry, not going to sign your petition, for once it looks like the right decision is being made.

[_neutrino Veteran]

IMO If you are on probation you probably should not be allowed to visit someone who is in prison. just as a precaution. You have commited crimes and they cannot work with these things on a case by case basis so its easier to just say no. To prevent criminals from trying to plan things.

[DocM]

I think you are all missing the point. The state does not have a right to bar her on the basis of that probation. They can only do it in cases of a parole.

Setting individual visitation limits may not be in the powers of the state DoC itself, but it IS something at the discretion of the prison warden as he has full authoroty over day-to-day operations. As such he has the power to limit visitations to and by offenders. She is an offender.

Look at it this way: say you had a gang leader and one of his on-parole/probation members wanted to visit. It may be social, or it could be the visitor is passing directions about the running of the gang in his absense.

By restricting such visits you disrupt any chains of command. Who's to say she isn't involved in a criminal conspiracy with her dad?

Preventive medicine.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

To be honest, I think you should be tagged, with that kind of lineage I suspect wrongdoing anytime soon!

 

I think you are all missing the point. The state does not have a right to bar her on the basis of that probation. They can only do it in cases of a parole.

 

I think you're missing the point that if anyone I know had committed multiple murders I would have nothing to do with them, no matter how we were related, I suspect other people would feel the same.

 

Happy New Year tho!

[techbeck]

Yea, sorry. Maybe she will think a little and this will help her clean up her act. Probation, minor offenses or not, is the step before jail time. If she isnt careful, she will be in no position to see her father anyway.